As September approaches, students who are beginning post-secondary education this year have received one or more offers of admission and then chosen a college or university, have hopefully been offered a place in a university residence or have secured off-campus housing, and are making final plans to make the move away from the family home for the first time. While choosing courses for the upcoming fall semester and anticipating the independence of life on their own is undoubtedly exciting, the hard reality is that all such choices and decisions come with a price tag – sometimes a very steep one. Regardless of geographic location, housing arrangements, or program choices, post-secondary learning is expensive. There will be tuition bills, of course, but also the need to find housing and pay rent in what is, in most college or university locations, a very tight and very expensive rental market. Those who choose to live in a university residence and are able to secure a place will also face bills for that accommodation and, often, for a meal plan.
